Book 1: The Crown Prince (The Kid Emperor of Occultoria)

by Jason W. Chan

  Chapter 6 - A Shocking Secret Revealed

  When they entered the palace, two guards in red uniform, one on each side, bowed down before them.

  The archbishop held up his hand in acknowledgment.

  The Grand Lobby had a crystal and marble staircase that led upstairs on a red carpet. The left and right led to two different hallways. On the ceiling hung a glass chandelier.

  Max inspected his environment.

  The most interesting thing he noticed was a golden statue of a woman right in the middle of the lobby. She was in full purple imperial regalia. She was wearing a double crown that had a symbol of the Ergon on the top crown and a sword on the lower one. She was also carrying a scepter with sapphire encrusted on top. If it weren’t for her frowning facial features, she would have been a very beautiful woman.

  He stared at the golden statue. “Is this my mother?”

  “Oh no, sire,” said the archbishop. “This is your aunt, the Empress Lilith. A hundred citizens died building this statue. She is the daughter of your father’s little sister. She mysteriously disappeared a few weeks ago and as soon as she did, most of the vassal kings and queens immediately revolted and declared independence. We have no idea where she went but she hadn’t been seen since.”

  “Were you archbishop when she was Empress?”

  “Oh, heavens no. I was in exile for years. I returned just a few days ago when the Imperial Council summoned me.”

  He turned to the statue. “She’s a vile poisonous woman. Everyone was suffering under her reign and they all clamored for your return.”

  Max examined the face of the statue. The woman indeed looked like an unpleasant and dour woman. Her face frowning, her nose scrunched up as though she smelled a putrid stench, her mouth in a straight line, a mole on his cheek, her eyes scowling, her hair pulled back austerely. Sure, she was a beautiful woman, but her beauty was dampened by her unpleasant traits.

  Max noticed one particular trait about her.

  Like him, she also had usually large ears that protruded outward. He could definitely see the family resemblance. Even though he was told that she wasn’t a nice lady, it was good that he was discovering his family for the first time.

  The archbishop pointed at the Empress’ big floppy ears. “You will notice that all members of your family exhibit this trait. Generations of inbreeding have produced the famous Jusoy ears.”

  “Ewww,” said Max. “What about my parents? Do they have the ears too?”

  The archbishop led him to a small room labelled Junk.

  He opened the door.

  Dust swirled in the air.

  Max glanced inside. The room contained a bunch of antiques covered in cloths.

  The archbishop pointed to the two portraits sitting in the corner. “Those are your parents, my lord.”

  Max stepped inside.

  He was about to see his parents’ faces for the first time. The adrenaline of sheer anticipation rushed through him.

  He went to the corner and lifted the cloths off.

  His parents were depicted in separate portraits, gathering dust in the corner.

  The archbishop pointed to the portraits. “These are your parents: Their Imperial Majesties Emperor Michael III, also known as Emperor Michael the Just, and Empress Gabriela.”

  Both were wearing full purple robes and crowns. His father’s crown was a double crown, with the same symbols as the Empress Lilith’s crown. His mother’s crown was only a single crown. And like his aunt, both had huge ears.

  His father was holding a scepter in one hand and a bronze sword in the other. He had a short brown hair, a wide friendly reddish face and a goatee on his chin. He was smiling.

  His mother, on the other hand, was not holding a scepter. She had wide happy eyes and dark flowing hair. She was smiling too, a tad mischievously.

  Max was flooded with a mix of emotions, but it was mostly joy that overtook him. Tears came to his eyes as he laid eyes on his parents for the first time. As a young child, he had made up stories about what his parents looked like. They looked exactly as he had imagined. They were beautiful. Their giant ears endeared Max to them. He was definitely their son.

  He never felt like he belonged anywhere else more than right where he was standing.

  But Max was also puzzled. Something didn’t make any sense. “What are their portraits doing in here? Why aren’t they displayed outside in the lobby, next to the statue of the Empress? Where are my parents?”

  The archbishop said, “Now is the time to have that conversation.”

  His kind eyes didn’t make Max feel any better.

  The archbishop took a deep breath and began a story. “Long ago, there was a conflict over the succession to the Occult Throne. Your grandfather, the Emperor, had one son and one daughter. According to the succession laws of the Empire, the eldest son of the eldest son inherits the Occult Throne. If there are no sons, then daughters can inherit. It’s called male preference agnatic primogeniture. The rest of the monarch’s children get nothing. The oldest son, your father, became the Emperor when your grandfather died. But his younger sister Lilith made a big fuss because she wanted to be the leader, as co-ruler. Are you with me so far?”

  Max nodded.

  The archbishop said, “Good. Unhappy with the state of affairs, Lilith kept complaining to your father. As the youngest daughter, she received nothing. She was jealous of your father. She thought she was smarter and wiser and tougher than your father. She thought she would make the better ruler. And so, she schemed to murder your parents. Your parents were poisoned to death.”

  Tears stung Max’s eyes.

  His voice cracked. “My parents are dead?”

  The archbishop placed a sympathetic hand on the young prince’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Your Imperial Highness.You must know that your parents loved you very much. They did not abandon you. They must have suspected they might be murdered, because the night before they were killed, they sent you to the Natural World with Ariel so that you would be safe. The Empress tried to look for you but she couldn’t find you. Your parents hoped that one day, you could return and claim your birthright as the rightful Emperor of Occultoria.”

  Max had nursed the hope that his parents were alive. On the ride over, he had imagined a joyful reconciliation with them in Occultoria City. And then he could ask them all sorts of questions he had about his home and family.

  He started fidgeting with his bracelet. “Did they give this to me?”

  The archbishop nodded. “Yes. It is a souvenir from them, something for you to remember them by. It’s also a magical bracelet, one that can warn you when you are in danger.”

  Max saw the bracelet in a new light now. It was a reminder of how much his parents had loved him. It had even tried to warn him about the ghost in the vending machine.

  The symbol of Ergon on the eighth bead now made sense to him. It was the symbol of royalty, of his imperial lineage.

  The letters S.I.T.T.I.B.I that spelled out Be Yourself in Latin also made a lot of sense to him. The most important message his parents had for him was to be himself.

  The archbishop continued, “You know, your father was quite an artist himself. He loved to paint. He was a quiet and shy man who was later became a strong ruler. He believed in a strong central government. It was only because he was introspective that he was able to know himself. And knowing himself was the first step towards understanding others and ruling well.”

  Max thought about how he had never belonged in the Natural World and everything was crystal clear now.

  As his teacher Ms. Hansen had said, there was nothing wrong with him. Like his father, he too was introspective and thoughtful. It was what his parents would have wanted him to be.

  Staring at the bracelet and then the portraits of his parents, he was filled with a sense of duty. He was determined to be a good emperor and restore the honor of his father’s rule.

  The archbishop placed a hand on his shoulder. “Yo
ur father was a great emperor. The people loved him and under his reign, the Empire prospered. But alas, it was short-lived.”

  He looked at the marble floor. “With your father out of the way, your Aunt Lilith became Empress. People strongly suspected Lilith murdered your parents. She was accused of murder, so she was brought to trial but acquitted. The Occult Supreme Court found her innocent, but rumor has it that it was because she had bribed most of the Justices. There was outrage when she was found innocent, but she bribed most of the Nobles too, you know, the Lords and Ladies of vassal provinces, so the gold either made them support her or silenced them. So although you were the true heir, the Nobles supported her instead and that allowed her to consolidate her power. Lilith ended up ruling for years. Your parents’ portrait are here because the Empress didn’t want anyone to be reminded of your parents. Her rule had been questioned a lot during these past ten years.”

  Max was no longer sad. He was now filled with rage and the intense desire for revenge. He wanted to confront his aunt the Empress Lilith, murderer of his parents. He wanted to overthrow her and get rid of her permanently so that his claim to the throne would be unchallenged.

  She was not the legitimate Empress, because she had come to the Occult Throne by illegal means.

  He looked at his tour guide. “Why didn’t you send for me sooner?”

  “Your parents didn’t want you to be involved in dangerous court politics. They were sure that if you, the one-year old heir then, grew up in court, your safety could not be guaranteed.”

  Max nodded.

  The archbishop placed the magical bag with Ariel in it on the floor. She had since grown quiet.

  The archbishop said, “And now that the Empress has disappeared, it’s the perfect time for you to claim your birthright.”

  Max nodded vigorously. This was his destiny - he could feel it.

  The archbishop said, “Now, we have a lot of business to attend to. Your official coronation and enthronement ceremonies will have to wait. Although you are the Crown Prince, before you can earn the right to rule, you must prove to the Nobles and the people of Occultoria that you’re worthy to be Emperor. No Emperor can rule without the support of the Nobles and the people. This means you must bring all the rebelling provinces back into the Empire by force or persuasion or any means necessary. Your mission is to go to these provinces and confront the leaders. You must either defeat them and appoint a new leader in their place or persuade them to rejoin the Empire again.”

  Max was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. “How many provinces are there?”

  “Ten in total, but we can crown you after you bring one of the provinces back into the Empire. Then, with your authority as the new emperor, you can work to persuade the others to rejoin.”

  The archbishop beckoned to the young prince. “Come with me. There’s a map of some of the provinces of the Occultorian Empire.”

  They took a right and arrived in front of a room with a silver sword painted on it. Two guards in red uniforms had their spears crossed in front of the door. They parted their weapons as they saw who were approaching.

  Max and the archbishop went inside. There was a wooden table in the middle with chairs all around it. On the wall was a glowing map of the Earth.

  “This is the War Room,” the archbishop explained. “This is where we plan wars. You see, the Empire runs on a feudal system. The Emperor grants land and a certain degree of autonomy the Lords and Ladies of the realm. They are the leaders of the provinces of the Empire. In return, they give you their loyalty and troops when you need them.”

  Max stared at the map. He understood everything so far.

  On the map, bright red marks lit up, indicating where each province was. They were much spread out around the world. Thinking back to his geography lessons, he could see that some were in Europe, some in Asia, some in Africa, some in the Americas, some in Australasia, one in the Arctic and some were scattered around the major oceans of the world.

  The archbishop pointed to a province that was in Europe. “You should deal with the province whose situation is most critical. That’s Province 1: Purgatorio. Located in Britain, it is also called the Land of Ghosts. It’s been spilling the most creatures into the Natural World. You remember those ghostly Green Gremlins?”

  Remembering their raspy voices and chilling warnings, Max nodded. “They told me to stay away from Purgatorio.”

  “The Queen of Purgatorio must have known you were coming. You must go and defeat her or persuade her to rejoin the Empire. Bring that province back into the Empire by any means necessary. Then, we can crown you Emperor of Occultoria and you can work on bringing the rest of the rebelling provinces back into the Empire.”

  The archbishop picked up a remote control and clicked a button on it.

  The image of the Earth dissolved on the screen and in its place was a very picturesque scene. It was a typical English countryside scene, complete with rolling green hills, a cute little bridge, windmills and a small village. The only weird thing was that it was a dark. The clouds had gobbled up the moon overhead. Barely any light was shining though.

  “This is the village of Pluckley in the District of Kent in Southeastern England,” the archbishop explained. “Purgatorio is a place for spirits - both in the Natural and Supernatural Words - that have clung on to life. After they died, they refused to go on to the afterlife, and so they were immediately transported to Province 1: Purgatorio, also known as the Land of Ghosts.”

  Max watched as more images flashed onto the screen: ghostly Green Gremlins, spirits of men and women, skeletons, zombies.

  The archbishop continued, “Don’t forget that the emperor’s job is to keep the balance between the Natural and Supernatural Worlds. When vassal provinces rebel, there is an imbalance and supernatural creatures seep into the Natural World. Only when all vassal provinces are loyal is there peace and harmony.”

  He looked at Max tenderly, much like a father would to his son. “I won’t sugarcoat it, Your Imperial Highness. Purgatorio is a scary place, fraught with dangers and traps. The Queen of Purgatorio is one of your most unruly vassals. She’s wanted independence ever since she came to power a thousand years ago. It will not be easy to persuade her to do anything.”

  And with that, the screen flashed to show a figure that barely resembled a woman. Her torso was a tree trunk. Her arms and legs were tree roots. Her skin was a decaying brown. She had a purifying crown on her head. At the very top of the crown was what looked like a miniature black cherry tree.

  Max examined her face. She had creepy red eyes, a huge nose and an even bigger mouth. It looked like her face was melting. Her hair was a pile of yellowish-brown roots. A poisonous green gas was seeping out of her pores.

  The woman looked evil and formidable.

  Max gulped. A lump was forming in his throat. Fear was seeping into him. He had such an enormous challenge in front of him.

  The Queen had one thousand years of magic and combat experience behind her. Max, on the other hand, had just found out about Occultoria.

  The archbishop went on, “The journey ahead of you will not be easy, Your Imperial Highness. That’s why you’ll be training in the days to come. You’ll learn to harness and control your naturally-inherited magical abilities, especially fire. And you’ll be given allies and magical items to guide you on this mission.”

  He touched the magical bag on the floor. “You hear that, Ariel? You’ll be accompanying the Crown Prince to Purgatorio.”

  He turned to Max. “Ariel will be your guide. She’ll explain everything in more detail.”

  In response to being mentioned, Ariel suddenly woke up and began clawing at the bag and meowing unhappily.

  The archbishop whacked the bag with his crozier. “You will either help His Imperial Highness or you will be thrown into the Imperial Dungeons.”

  At the mention of the dungeons, the cat began to quiver, shaking the bag. “No, please! Not the dungeon! I�
��ll go to Purgatorio with the Crown Prince. I’ll go!”

  The archbishop grinned. “Good.”

  Then he turned to Max again. “You’ve had a long day, sire. I’m sure you have a lot to think about. I think it’s time to show you to your room. You need to rest. You’ll need your full strength when you train these coming days.”

  Max was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but he was fine for the most part. The most overwhelming event had been seeing his parents and now that he had seen them, he desperately wanted to avenge their honor and claim his natural birthright as the Emperor of Occultoria.

  As they went up the marble staircase, more thoughts raced through Max’s mind.

  So he was the Crown Prince of the Supernatural World, but it came with a lot of responsibility, not that he minded. He had a long journey in front of him, and although he admitted to himself that he was a tad anxious, he was glad he had finally seen pictures of his parents and found his true home.

  But he was leaving the Natural World for a long time. Although he never felt like he belonged there, it had been his home for most of his life.

  On the bright side, at least this means I don’t have to go to Learning Assistance, he thought.

  He decided he would rather battle an evil, snarling, powerful tree demon in Purgatorio than have to go to Learning Assistance.

  ***